The integrity of the human genome is constantly threatened by genotoxic agents that cause DNA damage. Inefficient or inaccurate repair of DNA lesions triggers genome instability and can lead to ...cancer development or even cell death. Cells counteract the adverse effects of DNA lesions by activating the DNA damage response (DDR), which entails a coordinated series of events that regulates cell cycle progression and repair of DNA lesions. Efficient DNA repair in living cells is complicated by the packaging of genomic DNA into a condensed, often inaccessible structure called chromatin. Cells utilize post-translational histone modifications and ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling to modulate chromatin structure and increase the accessibility of the repair machinery to lesions embedded in chromatin. Here we review and discuss our current knowledge and recent advances on DNA damage-induced chromatin changes and their implications for the mammalian DNA damage response, genome stability and carcinogenesis. Exploiting our improving understanding of how modulators of chromatin structure orchestrate the DDR may provide new avenues to improve cancer management.
► Efficient DNA repair is complicated by the packaging of genomic DNA into chromatin. ► Chromatin structure is modulated by histone modification and chromatin remodeling. ► Chromatin modifying enzymes increase the accessibility of DNA lesions in chromatin. ► DNA damage-induced chromatin changes promote DNA repair and genomic stability. ► Targeting chromatin modifying enzymes may provide new avenues for cancer therapies.
Genetic, biochemical, and cellular studies have uncovered many of the molecular mechanisms underlying the signaling and repair of chromosomal DNA breaks. However, efficient repair of DNA damage is ...complicated in that genomic DNA is packaged, through histone and nonhistone proteins, into chromatin. The DNA repair machinery has to overcome this physical barrier to gain access to damaged DNA and repair DNA lesions. Posttranslational modifications of chromatin as well as ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factors help to overcome this barrier and facilitate access to damaged DNA by altering chromatin structure at sites of DNA damage. Here we review and discuss our current knowledge of and recent advances in chromatin changes induced by chromosome breakage in mammalian cells and their implications for genome stability and human disease.
Chromatin structure has a crucial role in processes of metabolism, including transcription, DNA replication and DNA damage repair. An evolutionarily conserved variant of histone H2A, called H2AX, is ...one of the key components of chromatin. H2AX becomes rapidly phosphorylated on chromatin surrounding DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Recent studies have shown that H2AX and other components of damaged chromatin also become modified by acetylation and ubiquitylation. This review discusses how specific combinations of histone modifications affect the accumulation and function of DNA repair factors (MDC1, RNF8, RNF168, 53BP1, BRCA1) and chromatin remodeling complexes (INO80, SWR1, TIP60-p400) at DSBs. These collectively regulate DSB repair and checkpoint arrest, avoiding genomic instability and oncogenic transformation in higher eukaryotes.
The cellular response to ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in native chromatin requires a tight coordination between the activities of DNA repair machineries and factors ...that modulate chromatin structure. SMARCA5 is an ATPase of the SNF2 family of chromatin remodeling factors that has recently been implicated in the DSB response. It forms distinct chromatin remodeling complexes with several non-canonical subunits, including the remodeling and spacing factor 1 (RSF1) protein. Despite the fact that RSF1 is often overexpressed in tumors and linked to tumorigenesis and genome instability, its role in the DSB response remains largely unclear. Here we show that RSF1 accumulates at DSB sites and protects human cells against IR-induced DSBs by promoting repair of these lesions through homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). Although SMARCA5 regulates the RNF168-dependent ubiquitin response that targets BRCA1 to DSBs, we found RSF1 to be dispensable for this process. Conversely, we found that RSF1 facilitates the assembly of centromere proteins CENP-S and CENP-X at sites of DNA damage, while SMARCA5 was not required for these events. Mechanistically, we uncovered that CENP-S and CENP-X, upon their incorporation by RSF1, promote assembly of the NHEJ factor XRCC4 at damaged chromatin. In contrast, CENP-S and CENP-X were dispensable for HR, suggesting that RSF1 regulates HR independently of these centromere proteins. Our findings reveal distinct functions of RSF1 in the 2 major pathways of DSB repair and explain how RSF1, through the loading of centromere proteins and XRCC4 at DSBs, promotes repair by non-homologous end-joining.
Abstract
The collection of known posttranslational modifications (PTMs) has expanded rapidly with the identification of various non-acetyl histone lysine acylations, such as crotonylation, ...succinylation and butyrylation, yet their regulation is still not fully understood. Through an unbiased chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-based approach called Epigenetics-IDentifier (Epi-ID), we aimed to identify regulators of crotonylation, succinylation and butyrylation in thousands of yeast mutants simultaneously. However, highly correlative results led us to further investigate the specificity of the pan-K-acyl antibodies used in our Epi-ID studies. This revealed cross-reactivity and lack of specificity of pan-K-acyl antibodies in various assays. Our findings suggest that the antibodies might recognize histone acetylation in vivo, in addition to histone acylation, due to the vast overabundance of acetylation compared to other acylation modifications in cells. Consequently, our Epi-ID screen mostly identified factors affecting histone acetylation, including known (e.g.
GCN5, HDA1
, and
HDA2
) and unanticipated (
MET7
,
MTF1, CLB3,
and
RAD26
) factors
,
expanding the repertoire of acetylation regulators. Antibody-independent follow-up experiments on the Gcn5-Ada2-Ada3 (ADA) complex revealed that, in addition to acetylation and crotonylation, ADA has the ability to butyrylate histones. Thus, our Epi-ID screens revealed limits of using pan-K-acyl antibodies in epigenetics research, expanded the repertoire of regulators of histone acetylation, and attributed butyrylation activity to the ADA complex.
DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) are repaired by multiple distinct pathways, with outcomes ranging from error-free repair to mutagenesis and genomic loss. DSB-repair pathway cross-talk and compensation ...is incompletely understood, despite its importance for genomic stability, oncogenesis, and genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9. To address this, we constructed and validated three fluorescent Cas9-based reporters, named DSB-Spectrum, that simultaneously quantify the contribution of multiple DNA repair pathways at a DSB. DSB-Spectrum reporters distinguish between DSB-repair by error-free canonical non-homologous end-joining (c-NHEJ) versus homologous recombination (HR; reporter 1), mutagenic repair versus HR (reporter 2), and mutagenic end-joining versus single strand annealing (SSA) versus HR (reporter 3). Using these reporters, we show that inhibiting the c-NHEJ factor DNA-PKcs increases repair by HR, but also substantially increases mutagenic SSA. Our data indicate that SSA-mediated DSB-repair also occurs at endogenous genomic loci, driven by Alu elements or homologous gene regions. Finally, we demonstrate that long-range end-resection factors DNA2 and Exo1 promote SSA and reduce HR, when both pathways compete for the same substrate. These new Cas9-based DSB-Spectrum reporters facilitate the comprehensive analysis of repair pathway crosstalk and DSB-repair outcome.
The repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is critical for the maintenance of genomic stability. Two pathways for the repair of DBSs, non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination ...(HR), have evolved in eukaryotes. These pathways, like processes such as transcription and replication, act on DNA that is embedded in nucleosomes. Recent studies have shown that DNA repair, like transcription, is facilitated both by histone tail modification and by ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling. This review emphasizes recent reports that demonstrate a function for the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes INO80 and RSC in NHEJ and HR. We also discuss the possible role of SWR1- and TIP60-mediated nucleosomal histone exchange in DNA repair.
Efficient repair of UV-induced DNA damage requires the precise coordination of nucleotide excision repair (NER) with numerous other biological processes. To map this crosstalk, we generated a ...differential genetic interaction map centered on quantitative growth measurements of >45,000 double mutants before and after different doses of UV radiation. Integration of genetic data with physical interaction networks identified a global map of 89 UV-induced functional interactions among 62 protein complexes, including a number of links between the RSC complex and several NER factors. We show that RSC is recruited to both silenced and transcribed loci following UV damage where it facilitates efficient repair by promoting nucleosome remodeling. Finally, a comparison of the response to high versus low levels of UV shows that the degree of genetic rewiring correlates with dose of UV and reveals a network of dose-specific interactions. This study makes available a large resource of UV-induced interactions, and it illustrates a methodology for identifying dose-dependent interactions based on quantitative shifts in genetic networks.
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•Differential genetic analysis of 45,938 mutants was carried out in response to UV•Genetic data link RSC to global genome and transcription-coupled repair•RSC facilitates repair via nucleosome remodeling at sites of UV-induced lesions•High- and low-dose UV induce a set of dose-specific genetic interactions
The repair of UV-induced DNA damage requires the coordination of numerous cellular processes. In this study, Van Attikum, Ideker, and colleagues utilize differential epistasis mapping to uncover how the crosstalk between these processes are rewired in response to UV. The data pinpoint a role for the RSC complex in remodeling chromatin at the sites of UV damage to promote efficient repair. This study provides a first draft of the genetic networks governing the response to UV damage.
INO80 and SWR1 are two closely related ATP‐dependent chromatin remodeling complexes that share several subunits. Ino80 was reported to be recruited to the HO endonuclease‐induced double‐strand break ...(DSB) at the budding yeast mating‐type locus, MAT. We find Swr1 similarly recruited in a manner dependent on the phosphorylation of H2A (γH2AX). This is not unique to cleavage at MAT; both Swr1 and Ino80 bind near an induced DSB on chromosome XV. Whereas Swr1 incorporates the histone variant H2A.Z into chromatin at promoters, H2A.Z levels do not increase at DSBs. Instead, H2A.Z, γH2AX and core histones are coordinately removed near the break in an INO80‐dependent, but SWR1‐independent, manner. Mutations in INO80‐specific subunits Arp8 or Nhp10 impair the binding of Mre11 nuclease, yKu80 and ATR‐related Mec1 kinase at the DSB, resulting in defective end‐processing and checkpoint activation. In contrast, Mre11 binding, end‐resection and checkpoint activation were normal in the swr1 strain, but yKu80 loading and error‐free end‐joining were impaired. Thus, these two related chromatin remodelers have distinct roles in DSB repair and checkpoint activation.
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